This Sunday sees the first ‘Monument’ of the season, Milan-Sanremo. This 294km is one of the oldest and most prestigious races in the race calendar, in its 105th edition for 2014.

John Degenkolb has been in contention for the past two years and returns to the race again this year in an edition which has seen a late route change with the removal of the Pompeiana climb, swinging the momentum back towards the fast men.

John Degenkolb (GER)
“I’m really excited for Sunday, it is without doubt one of the most beautiful races on the calendar. It is going to be an honour to race on the ‘original’ parcours of the old days, the route I used to watch the pros race when I was young sitting in front of the television.

“I had a few days of good training at home after Paris – Nice before coming out here. Races like this suit me, long distances and a race of attrition, plus we have a strong team here so we can be confident, but anything can happen in this race.”

Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA)
“This will be my first Milan-Sanremo and the thought of riding nearly 300km is pretty daunting but I’m looking forward to it. It is always an unpredictable race but I think that we have a real shot on Sunday.

“My form is good now after a good, hard week at Paris – Nice and hopefully I put this to good use on Sunday.”

Simon Geschke (GER)
“My form feels very good off the back of Tirreno. On Sunday I expect that the race will be decided on the Poggio, and I’ll do what I can to support John there because the race suits him well. His past results at Milan-Sanremo show that he has what it takes to win it.

“It’s a very unpredictable race and things can change but that will be our plan heading into Sunday.”

Marc Reef (NED)
“We have a really strong line-up for this race and the guys have shown in both Paris – Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico that they are riding well.

“John will be the absolute leader for us and we have the guys to support him. The goal is to get the best possible result, and after a fifth place two years ago we have to try for more!”